Charles Lyell (Liberal politician)

Charles Lyell

Major Charles Henry Lyell (18 May 1875 – 18 October 1918) was a British politician and Liberal Member of Parliament who died in the First World War.

Education and private life[]

Charles Henry Lyell in military uniform

Lyell was born in 1875, the only son of Leonard Lyell, 1st Baron Lyell, and was educated at Eton and New College, Oxford. Whilst at Oxford he became a Freemason in the Apollo University Lodge, a Masonic lodge for students and former students of the university.^[1]^: 38^[2]

He married Rosalind Watney in 1911, and had one son, Charles Anthony Lyell (later 2nd Baron Lyell) and one daughter.^[3]

Political career[]

Lyell was elected to represent East Dorset in a 1904 by-election, and was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Sir Edward Grey, the Foreign Secretary, in 1906.^[3] He was re-elected at the 1906 general election, but failed to win election in the January 1910 general election, where he contested Edinburgh West.^[4] He was elected for Edinburgh South at a by-election in April, and won re-election in the December general election. He was appointed as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to H. H. Asquith, the Prime Minister, in February 1911, and stood down from the seat in May 1917.^[4]

Military career[]

Lyell was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Forfar and Kincardine Artillery Militia in 1900, and served until 1908 when the Militia was dissolved under the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907. He then served as the vice-chairman of the County Territorial Association for Forfarshire. On the outbreak of the First World War, he was gazetted a captain in the Fife Royal Garrison Artillery, and in May 1915 made a major in the Highland Battery of the Fife RGA.^[3]

Death[]

House of Commons commemoration of Lyell

Charles Henry Lyell died on 18 October 1918 of pneumonia during the global Spanish flu pandemic while serving as Assistant Military Attaché to the US,^[4] and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.^[5] Lyell is commemorated on Panel 1 of the Parliamentary War Memorial in Westminster Hall, one of 22 MPs that died during World War I to be named on that memorial.^[6]^[7] A further act of commemoration came with the unveiling in 1932 of a manuscript-style illuminated book of remembrance for the House of Commons, which includes a short biographical account of the life and death of Lyell.^[8]^[9]

Notes[]

^ Jordan, Christopher, ed. (2015). WWI Remembered - Memories of and by Club Members (First ed.). London: Oxford and Cambridge Club.
^ "WWI Remembered - Memories of and by Club Members" (PDF). London: Oxford and Cambridge Club. 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c Who Was Who
^ ^a ^b ^c Obituary, The Times.
^ "Casualty Details: Lyell, The Hon. Charles Henry". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
^ "Recording Angel memorial Panel 1". Recording Angel memorial, Westminster Hall. UK Parliament (www.parliament.uk). Retrieved 31 August 2016.
^ "List of names on the Recording Angel memorial, Westminster Hall" (PDF). Recording Angel memorial, Westminster Hall. UK Parliament (www.parliament.uk). Retrieved 31 August 2016.
^ "House of Commons War Memorial: Final Volumes Unveiled by The Speaker". The Times. No. 46050. London. 6 February 1932. p. 7.
^ Moss-Blundell, Edward Whitaker, ed. (1931). The House of Commons Book of Remembrance 1914–1918. E. Mathews & Marrot.

References[]

"LYELL, Hon. Charles Henry", in Who Was Who (Online ed.). A & C Black. 2007.
Obituary in The Times, p. 5, 19 October 1918

External links[]

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Charles Henry Lyell

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Humphrey Sturt	Member of Parliament for East Dorset 1904 – January 1910	Succeeded by Freddie Guest
Preceded by Arthur Dewar	Member of Parliament for Edinburgh South 1910 – 1917	Succeeded by Edward Parrott

[1] Jordan, Christopher, ed. (2015). WWI Remembered - Memories of and by Club Members (First ed.). London: Oxford and Cambridge Club.

[2] "WWI Remembered - Memories of and by Club Members" (PDF). London: Oxford and Cambridge Club. 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2018.

[Who_Was_Who-3] Who Was Who

[Times-4] Obituary, The Times.

[5] "Casualty Details: Lyell, The Hon. Charles Henry". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 30 August 2016.

[6] "Recording Angel memorial Panel 1". Recording Angel memorial, Westminster Hall. UK Parliament (www.parliament.uk). Retrieved 31 August 2016.

[7] "List of names on the Recording Angel memorial, Westminster Hall" (PDF). Recording Angel memorial, Westminster Hall. UK Parliament (www.parliament.uk). Retrieved 31 August 2016.

[8] "House of Commons War Memorial: Final Volumes Unveiled by The Speaker". The Times. No. 46050. London. 6 February 1932. p. 7.

[9] Moss-Blundell, Edward Whitaker, ed. (1931). The House of Commons Book of Remembrance 1914–1918. E. Mathews & Marrot.

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v t Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister
Prime Minister's Office
to Henry Campbell-Bannerman	Carr-Gomm 1906–1908
to H. H. Asquith	Howard 1908–1909 Lyell 1908–1915
to David Lloyd George	Barran 1916–1918 D. Davies 1916–1918 Sutherland 1916–1918 Astor 1918 Sutherland 1919–1920 Sassoon 1920–1922
to Bonar Law	Davidson 1922–1923
to Stanley Baldwin	Herbert 1923–1924 Herbert 1924–1927 Rhys 1927–1929 Geoffery-Lloyd 1935 Dugdale 1935–1937
to Ramsay MacDonald	Weir 1924 Weir 1929–1931 Morrison 1929–1931 Markham 1931–1932 Glyn 1931–1935 Worthington 1931–1935
to Neville Chamberlain	Douglas-Home 1937–1940
to Winston Churchill	Bracken 1940–1941 Harvie-Watt 1941–1945 Soames 1952–1955
to Clement Attlee	de Freitas 1945–1946 Moyle 1946–1951
to Anthony Eden	Carr 1955 Allan 1955–1956
to Harold Macmillan	Barber 1957–1959 K. Cunningham 1959–1963
to Alec Douglas-Home	Pearson 1963–1964
to Harold Wilson	Fernyhough 1964–1967 Shore 1965–1966 H. Davies 1967–1970 Varley 1968–1969 Hamling 1974–1975 Marks 1975 Tomlinson 1975–1976
to Edward Heath	Kitson 1970–1974
to James Callaghan	J. Cunningham 1976–1977 Stott 1977–1979
to Margaret Thatcher	Gow 1979–1983 Alison 1983–1987 Hamilton 1987–1988 Lennox-Boyd 1988–1990 Morrison 1990
to John Major	Bright 1990–1994 Ward 1994–1997
to Tony Blair	Coffey 1997–1998 Grocott 1997–2001 Hanson 2001–2005 Hill 2005–2007
to Gordon Brown	Austin 2007–2008 Smith 2007–2009 Trickett 2008–2010 Snelgrove 2009–2010
to David Cameron	Swayne 2010–2012 Gyimah 2012–2013 Williamson 2013–2016
to Theresa May	Hollingbery 2016–2018 Kennedy 2017–2019 Bowie 2018–2019
to Boris Johnson	Burghart 2019–2021 Heappey 2019 Harrison 2019–2021 Dines 2021-present Griffith 2021-present